The present invention relates to a rotary, ground-driven row cleaner for use in conservation tillage farming (i.e., no-till or low-till) and particularly useful in conjunction with row planter units. A planter unit with a ground-driven row cleaner is disclosed in Martin U.S. Pat. No. 4,785,890. Several planter units may be attached to an elongated and laterally extending tool bar adapted to be pulled forwardly across the field by a tractor.
The row cleaner of the Martin patent comprises two toothed wheels which are located so as to sweep residue (e.g., organic mulch) laterally away from the path followed by furrow opening means which may take the form of a pair of forwardly converging discs adapted to create a furrow in the soil. The toothed sweeper wheels are mounted on the rigid frame of the planter unit ahead of a pair of depth gauge wheels and are located at the position usually occupied by a rotatable coulter. When used, a coulter slices vertically into the soil ahead of the furrow openers and facilitates formation of the furrow by the openers.
In the Martin apparatus, the advantages of a coulter are lost since the coulter is replaced by the sweeper wheels. Moreover, the rigid mounting of sweeper wheels on the frame of the planter unit ahead of the gauge wheels makes it difficult for the sweeper wheels to rise and fall as they move over uneven ground. As a result, the sweeper wheels tend to move too much soil as they pass through a ridge and tend to leave too much residue as they pass over a valley.